Vengeance - Chapter Nine
by Soquilii
Summary: Eliot Spencer, Alec Hardison and Parker are now the Leverage team. Nate and Sophie, long retired, reside blissfully somewhere in Europe. The team of three has persisted, building their justice-for-hire empire to encompass several countries. Leverage International, Hardison's dream, was now a reality. Now, an old nemesis is back.


**LEVERAGE HEADQUARTERS PORTLAND, OREGON**

Parker, still waving the envelope in the air, misread Eliot's expressive face. 'This is from_ Michael Vance_, Eliot! The one you said didn't always wear a suit! Looks like he sent you something.'

_Jeez, what did it take to tear Eliot away from a stupid game?_

Parker's curiosity was getting the better of her. 'Want me to open it for you?'

Annoyed, Eliot shook his head. '_Parker_,' he admonished, growling, 'You don't just _open_ somebody's…'

He never finished the sentence.

Parker's small knife punctured the envelope's flap.

In a microsecond, a very fine white powder burst forth with an audible _fump!_ The bar light illuminated it like a halo around Parker's head. Parker gasped in shock and surprise; a quantity of particles were sucked into her mouth and nose and began to light on her face, hands and shoulders. Confused, she shut her eyes and shook her head from side to side, coughing.

Eliot, quick to react, immediately ceased his respiration, pressed his lips together and vaulted over the back of the couch. He ran toward Parker and snatched her unceremoniously off her barstool. It clattered to the floor. Clamping his hand roughly over her mouth and nose, he began dragging her swiftly to the elevator door. He expended what air he had left to yell a warning: _'Hardison! Cover your mouth, man; don't breathe! Follow me out! __**NOW**__!'_

Hardison wasted no time complying. Briefly glancing back at the mysterious cloud suspended and expanding swiftly, ominously, he helped Eliot drag a struggling Parker out the door and into the elevator.

Parker fought to breathe; Eliot denied her that right, gripping her tightly. Besieged by his own need for oxygen, he glared at Hardison as if daring him to inhale. As he had done when he was buried alive Hardison, eyes wide with fear, placed one hand over his mouth as if to reinforce Eliot's command. The elevator doors opened; the two men half-carried and dragged a struggling Parker out of the brew pub downstairs. Only when they were outside on the sidewalk did Eliot give his companions, as well as himself, permission to take in fresh air. He took his hand away from Parker's face. Parker coughed and choked, gulping oxygen. Hardison lowered her to the pavement and bent double, coughing and gasping, each paroxysm visible in the cold air. Parker leaned back, exhausted, against the side of the building, stunned.

'We gotta get to a hospital, man, quick!' said Eliot, his voice strained from coughing.

'Lucille's keys were on the bar,' said Hardison, shaking his head. 'What…'

'Never mind that, we need an ambulance.'

Parker sat up, angry, disoriented and confused by Eliot's swift action. One minute she was simply opening an envelope and the next… 'What's the matter? _What's wrong?!_' she kept asking. Her sinuses burned; she began coughing harder. Hardison looked at her in alarm; her face and eyes were reddening.**

Hardison, shaken, gasped, 'I dunno, Babe…I…we gotta trust Eliot on this one. I _don't know _what's going on!'

'I'm callin' the CDC,' Eliot said, holding his phone to his ear.'

'Why…what…why the _CDC_…?' Hardison stuttered, frightened.

'_Shut up_, Hardison…if this is what I think it is…' He didn't finish the sentence. He was dialing 911.

Hardison, voice quivering in fear, yelled, '_What_, man? Exactly _what_ the hell do you _think_ it is?!'

'_**You're both scaring me**_**!'** Parker suddenly screamed. 'Both of you just…_shut up_!' The effort of screaming intensified the coughing. She lay back on the icy pavement, straining, gasping for air.

Hardison, tears springing from his eyes, knelt down beside her. He grabbed Parker in his arms and rocked back and forth, holding her tight. He could feel her heart pounding in her chest; the rapid beats matching his. 'It'll be ok, Babe,' he kept telling her. 'It'll be ok.' He wanted to believe what he told her, but as he listened to Eliot's urgent phone conversation his anxiety increased.

**For story purposes the normal time for ricin poisoning indicators has been condensed.


End file.
